5/23
Got the run in today although it was not great and just had the Monday blahs and even at the end was just glad I had gotten it in. Need to find some love for the run.

5/24
We are supposed to do mostly flat course today so I choose to ride in front of my house on 370 where there are nice wide shoulders and in driving I have never really thought of it as hilly. I do now! It was fun but a little terrifying to be flying down hills on a busy road during rush hour traffic. Going to see if maybe it is a nicer ride at a less busy time of day this summer. For now I will head away from B-ville towards the parkway for the flat easy day rides! On a high note….did not fall! Swim tomorrow night and I am nervous and excited hoping I can remember the calm and “feel” the water again.

5/25
At last! I feel like I am making great progress in the swim and might I even dare to add that I had fun tonight swimming! Now, I have always loved to swim but have struggled with the techniques in “real” swimming recently and had hated it since that first nights training. Since I have started to slow things down and really find that rhythm it has been …fun!

I have hit a little road-block tonight on another lane however. When I was grabbing my towel to do the Katie-kick-butt-core my bad knee did a little twist pop burn number. I am sitting with it up right now and when I bend it you hear grinding and popping noises…not good. I am going to take off the next two training days and really baby it. Last time I tried to push it I ended up in two months of physical therapy! I actually think I may have jinxed myself by thinking just this past week…”Wow my knee has been doing great!” Really hoping this is just a minor set back. Although now is where I confess one of my great fears…my knee giving out on race day and not being able to finish the race…that would be heartbreaking! Not that I wouldn’t just try again the next year but that would be not awesome on a lot of levels.

5/27
The knee is feeling better and I'm really trying to force myself to wait one more day.

5/28
Knee is stiff when I get up (way too early!) for the 7am training. I do a few stretches and head out for our new bike location. We are at the parkway today. It is a bit chaotic as we split into groups and take 3 different loops. My friend Caroline has a tire blowout and I realize that I really need to actually practice changing a tire not just watching someone change it! I head back out to join what I think is my group and I realize a little late I have joined the wrong group. I join them and meet some new ladies and realize two things about myself. One, I do not riding across metal grid bridges on a bike (truthfully walking across them freaks me out too!) and two, I have no clue how to change/fix a chain. Need a skills lesson soon! My knee has relaxed and is not too painful today. Good news. I get lost from my second group, I swear I just stopped to look for the lost chain of a fellow rider and they disappeared into smoke! So now I have found myself in the advanced riders group competing on the slow ride drill, I hold my own and meet some new riders. Just as they are about to head off on to the loop to do the runs I have already done I spot my original group! Joy! They are doing the last drill I need to do….the “Circle of Death” drill! Title really gives little comfort! This drill is done on grass to increase safety. Essentially, this drill is ten riders riding in small circles around each other. The trick is not crashing into others, which I manage to do…however it is the stopping and un-clipping that gets me again! I do a spectacular rolling dismount and really appreciate the grass beneath! We end doing the stopping drill again and once again my friend Ann and I are competing, last time we blew out the competition, this time not so much! Had a wonderful morning with these ladies once again!

5/29
Knee is still not up to a run. So one more day off but I do go kayaking and walking. Really going to need to take the running slowly to make sure I don’t make things worse down the road. Other two sports actually help the knee so will focus on those for now even if it is driving me nuts to miss scheduled training!